The present invention relates to embodiments of an improved eye protector, particularly designed for the game of women's lacrosse. In men's lacrosse, players are protected by a helmet completely covering the head and including a protective cage and a chin guard. By contrast, in the game of women's lacrosse, no such headgear is worn. The only protection worn by women playing the game of lacrosse consists of eye protection.
Eye protectors currently on the market are typically designed to provide a blocking function. That is, they are configured so that a lacrosse ball coming toward the eye protector is blocked from hitting the eyes of the wearer in such a way that the ball typically bounces back toward its point of origin. When this occurs, the force of the incoming ball is transferred to the wearer's face via the eye protector and a maximum amount of force is transferred to the wearer's face. Present day eye protectors designed for the game of women's lacrosse are less concerned with player visibility than they are concerned with eye protection. Such eye protectors typically include a plurality of vertically disposed support bars that provide structural integrity for the eye protector but, at the same time, block the vision of the wearer and, in fact, perform a distraction function, distracting the wearer from occurrences during a lacrosse game.
Applicants' Assignee, Sport Helmets, Inc., trading as Cascade (Cascade), sells an eye protector that is depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2. The eye protector 10 includes a central vertical bar 11 separating openings 13 and 15 for the eyes of the wearer. Additional vertical bars 17 and 19 provide structural support and also define sides of additional openings 21 and 23.
As shown in FIG. 1, the opening 13 is defined by an upper bar 25 and a lower bar 27, while the opening 15 is defined by an upper bar 29 and a lower bar 31. With reference to FIG. 2, it is seen that the lower bars 27 and 31 protrude forwardly a slight distance in front of the upper bars 25 and 29. The vertical bar 11 also protrudes forwardly of the openings 13 and 15. The forward stagger of the lower bars 27, 31 with respect to the upper bars 25 and 29 is extremely slight, and the result is that for most ball impacts, the eye protector 10 performs a blocking function, repelling the ball back toward its source.
With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, another eye protector for women's lacrosse is made by DeBeer. The DeBeer protector 40 includes a plastic portion 41 to which is attached a metal portion 43 made of rectangular cross-section wire. As seen in particular in FIG. 3, the eye openings are designated by the reference numerals 45 and 47. Vertical angled bars 49 and 51 support the upper bars 48 and 50, defining the upper extents of the eye openings 45 and 47. The bars 49 and 51 attach to horizontal bar 53 that facilitates attachment to the member 41. Lower bars 55, 57 define the lower extent of the eye openings 45 and 47. Another vertical bar 52 separates and defines the eye openings 45 and 47. As seen in FIG. 4, the bars 49 and 51 extend forwardly of the bar 53, and the bars 48, 50 are directly over the bars 55 and 57, respectively. Thus, the bars 45, 50 and 55, 57 are equidistant in front of the eyeballs of the wearer. This makes it more likely that incoming balls will be blocked back toward their source as compared to deflecting away.
A regulation lacrosse ball is about 2.47 to 2.55 inches in diameter and weighs from 5 to 5.25 ounces. As shown in FIG. 5, when a lacrosse ball B is thrown or shot at a high rate of speed, it tends to elongate into the shape of an ovoid upon impact. When this occurs, a diameter reduces below 2.47 inches. This phenomenon must be taken into account when designing the dimensions of eye protectors to preclude a ball from intruding past horizontal bars of an eye protector and impact the eyeball. This possibility must be precluded at all costs.
Applicants have found that an eye protector for women's lacrosse provides superior protection for the eyes of the wearer if it is designed to facilitate deflection of a lacrosse ball away from the wearer's eyes rather than accomplishing a pure blocking function. Eye protectors in which the upper and lower bars surrounding the eyes are generally equidistantly spaced from the wearer's head are less likely to deflect the ball but, rather, are more likely to block the ball and send it on a path in the general direction of its source. When this occurs, maximum force is transferred to the wearer's head. If an eye protector could be designed that deflects the lacrosse ball rather than directly repelling it, forces imposed on the wearer's head will be significantly reduced and protection to the wearer's eyeballs will necessarily be enhanced. It is with these thoughts in mind that the present invention was developed.